Scout
10-15-2007, 06:57 AM
with Gregg Drinnan
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sunday's serving . . .
The team that will represent Canada at the 2008 world junior ball hockey championship has a WHL flavour. Included on the 24-player roster are LW Travis Dunstall of the Kamloops Blazers, C Tyler Ennis of the Medicine Hat Tigers and D Jared Spurgeon of the Spokane Chiefs. All three play in the forward ranks on the ball hockey team. All three are from Alberta. Dunstall, 18, is from Onoway. Spurgeon, who turns 18 on Nov. 29, is from Edmonton, as is Ennis, 18. . . . The world championship will be held in St. John’s, Nfld., in June. . . .
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix is reporting that Red Deer Rebels RW J.D. Watt, 20, has been suspended indefinitely pending a look into his hit on Blades D Teigan Zahn, 17, during Saskatoon’s 5-2 victory Friday. The hit took place at 15:54 of the first period and left Zahn motionless on the ice. He was helped off by trainer Steve Hildebrand and two players. Watt wasn’t penalized on the play, something that incensed the Blades, who sent video to the WHL office and requested supplementary discipline. “It’s very clear (Watt) left his feet and it was a blow to the head,” Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken told StarPhoenix sports editor Doug McConachie. “Teigan was in a vulnerable position.” Zahn has a concussion and won’t play Tuesday against the visiting Prince George Cougars. He may be on the bus when the Blades head out on a five-game road swing into the U.S. Division. . . . Red Deer head coach Brian Sutter told the Red Deer Advocate: “The league office (Richard Doerksen, the disciplinarian) told us it was a borderline hit. It was a good, hard bodycheck but (Zahn) hit his head against the glass and got knocked out.” . . . Watt sat out games in Swift Current on Saturday and Prince Albert on Sunday. He will hear from the WHL office Monday. . . .
The Prince George Citizen reports that the Prince George Cougars will be without second-year F Dale Hunt for a month with two broken fingers on his left hand. Hunt was tied for the team lead in goals (four) and points (10) when he was injured Friday in a 3-2 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. He had 12 points, including four goals, in 55 games as a rookie. . . . The Cougars are without rookie D Trevor Bauer (charleyhorse) but may get C Jan Kupec, another rookie, back from a shoulder problem when they play Wednesday in Prince Albert. . . .
SUNDAY’s HIGHLIGHTS
In Chilliwack, G Tyson Sexsmith turned aside 18 shots as the Vancouver Giants dumped the Bruins, 4-0. . . . It concluded a rather impressive weekend for the Giants, who dumped the visiting Calgary Hitmen 4-3 in a Friday shootout and then beat the visiting Tri-City Americans 4-1 on Saturday. . . . When the smoke cleared, the Giants (7-1-1-0) were atop the B.C. Division, two points ahead of the Bruins (7-3-0-0). . . . The Giants were without D Craig Schira (upper body) and F Evander Kane (foot) after both were injured Saturday. . . . Vancouver penalty killers were 19-for-19 on the weekend. . . . Vancouver D Jonathan Blum had an assist to run his point streak to nine games. . . . Hockey Canada head scout Al Murray was at the game and told the Vancouver Province that he has an interest in Sexsmith, who put up his second shutout of the season and 13th of his career. . . .
In Medicine Hat, the Lethbridge Hurricanes blew a 3-0 first-period lead and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Tigers. F Sean Ringose’s fifth goal of the season, at 2:13 of OT, won it. . . . The Tigers scored three second-period goals, all on the power play,with the third one from F Yashar Farmanara at 13:27. . . . Medicine Hat (8-2-1-0) was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Hurricanes (4-5-1-0) were 1-for-4. . . . F Daine Todd had a goal and two helpers for the Tigers, as did F Tyler Ennis, whose goal was his 10th of the season. D Mark Isherwood chipped in three assists. He was tremendous on the power play and also made the play that led to the winner. . . . F Zach Boychuk had a goal and an assist for Lethbridge, while F Mitch Fadden had two assists. . . .
In Portland, the Kamloops Blazers got a late goal from RW Sasha Golin to beat the Winter Hawks, 5-4. . . . Golin, who was acquired from Portland last season, also had an assist, giving him his first two points this season. . . . Most of Kamloops’ offence came from the line of Brock Nixon between Ivan Rohac and Juuso Puustinen. Puustinen, a sophomore, had three goals and an assist. It was the first hat trick of his career. . . . Nixon, with a goal and three helpers, enjoyed the sixth four-point game of his career, which is in its fifth season. . . . Rohac, a second-year winger from Slovakia, had his first three-assist game. . . . GM/head coach Dean Clark put the three together on Saturday night in Seattle. He took LW Alex Rodgers off that line and put him with RW Tyler Shattock in an attempt to get Shattock going. Clark felt that Shattock played better in the club’s last two games. . . . Portland (1-8-0-0) led 2-0 before the game was two minutes old but proceeded to give up four power-play goals. . . . The Blazers (4-4-1-0) are 1-1-1-0 in their U.S. Division swing that concludes Tuesday in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans. . . .
In Moose Jaw, G Joey Perricone stopped 25 shots as the Warriors blanked the Pats, 4-0. . . . Moose Jaw lost F Riley Holzapfel, its captain, in the first period when he was on the receiving end of a hit from Regina D Colten Teubert. Holzapfel left the game and didn’t return. . . . Teubert wasn’t penalized. . . . “I thought the hit was a late hit. The puck was nowhere near him,” Moose Jaw head coach Dave Hunchak told the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “I’m obviously frustrated with the way the game is going in today’s WHL (and) NHL. We’re trying to eliminate things like that front the game. I’m very disappointed in how that went down.” . . . Hunchak told the newspaper that the Warriors will send video to the WHL office and ask for supplementary discipline. . . . There was the usual Moose Jaw-Regina silliness in the third period, including a Perricone spear on Regina’s Kirt Hill, who was headed for the dressing room after a scrap. . . . The Warriors (4-3-2-0) have won four in a row. . . . Regina fell to 7-4-0-0. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post points out that the Pats have been outscored 21-6 in third periods. . . . Regina went into the weekend with the WHL’s top-ranked power-play unit, and promptly went 1-for-17 in three games. . . .
In Prince Albert, the Rebels, who are on a five-game East Division swing, beat the Raiders, 2-1. . . . F Luke Betts broke a 1-1 tie at 2:37 of the third period.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Sunday's serving . . .
The team that will represent Canada at the 2008 world junior ball hockey championship has a WHL flavour. Included on the 24-player roster are LW Travis Dunstall of the Kamloops Blazers, C Tyler Ennis of the Medicine Hat Tigers and D Jared Spurgeon of the Spokane Chiefs. All three play in the forward ranks on the ball hockey team. All three are from Alberta. Dunstall, 18, is from Onoway. Spurgeon, who turns 18 on Nov. 29, is from Edmonton, as is Ennis, 18. . . . The world championship will be held in St. John’s, Nfld., in June. . . .
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix is reporting that Red Deer Rebels RW J.D. Watt, 20, has been suspended indefinitely pending a look into his hit on Blades D Teigan Zahn, 17, during Saskatoon’s 5-2 victory Friday. The hit took place at 15:54 of the first period and left Zahn motionless on the ice. He was helped off by trainer Steve Hildebrand and two players. Watt wasn’t penalized on the play, something that incensed the Blades, who sent video to the WHL office and requested supplementary discipline. “It’s very clear (Watt) left his feet and it was a blow to the head,” Saskatoon GM/head coach Lorne Molleken told StarPhoenix sports editor Doug McConachie. “Teigan was in a vulnerable position.” Zahn has a concussion and won’t play Tuesday against the visiting Prince George Cougars. He may be on the bus when the Blades head out on a five-game road swing into the U.S. Division. . . . Red Deer head coach Brian Sutter told the Red Deer Advocate: “The league office (Richard Doerksen, the disciplinarian) told us it was a borderline hit. It was a good, hard bodycheck but (Zahn) hit his head against the glass and got knocked out.” . . . Watt sat out games in Swift Current on Saturday and Prince Albert on Sunday. He will hear from the WHL office Monday. . . .
The Prince George Citizen reports that the Prince George Cougars will be without second-year F Dale Hunt for a month with two broken fingers on his left hand. Hunt was tied for the team lead in goals (four) and points (10) when he was injured Friday in a 3-2 victory over the Wheat Kings in Brandon. He had 12 points, including four goals, in 55 games as a rookie. . . . The Cougars are without rookie D Trevor Bauer (charleyhorse) but may get C Jan Kupec, another rookie, back from a shoulder problem when they play Wednesday in Prince Albert. . . .
SUNDAY’s HIGHLIGHTS
In Chilliwack, G Tyson Sexsmith turned aside 18 shots as the Vancouver Giants dumped the Bruins, 4-0. . . . It concluded a rather impressive weekend for the Giants, who dumped the visiting Calgary Hitmen 4-3 in a Friday shootout and then beat the visiting Tri-City Americans 4-1 on Saturday. . . . When the smoke cleared, the Giants (7-1-1-0) were atop the B.C. Division, two points ahead of the Bruins (7-3-0-0). . . . The Giants were without D Craig Schira (upper body) and F Evander Kane (foot) after both were injured Saturday. . . . Vancouver penalty killers were 19-for-19 on the weekend. . . . Vancouver D Jonathan Blum had an assist to run his point streak to nine games. . . . Hockey Canada head scout Al Murray was at the game and told the Vancouver Province that he has an interest in Sexsmith, who put up his second shutout of the season and 13th of his career. . . .
In Medicine Hat, the Lethbridge Hurricanes blew a 3-0 first-period lead and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Tigers. F Sean Ringose’s fifth goal of the season, at 2:13 of OT, won it. . . . The Tigers scored three second-period goals, all on the power play,with the third one from F Yashar Farmanara at 13:27. . . . Medicine Hat (8-2-1-0) was 3-for-7 on the PP; the Hurricanes (4-5-1-0) were 1-for-4. . . . F Daine Todd had a goal and two helpers for the Tigers, as did F Tyler Ennis, whose goal was his 10th of the season. D Mark Isherwood chipped in three assists. He was tremendous on the power play and also made the play that led to the winner. . . . F Zach Boychuk had a goal and an assist for Lethbridge, while F Mitch Fadden had two assists. . . .
In Portland, the Kamloops Blazers got a late goal from RW Sasha Golin to beat the Winter Hawks, 5-4. . . . Golin, who was acquired from Portland last season, also had an assist, giving him his first two points this season. . . . Most of Kamloops’ offence came from the line of Brock Nixon between Ivan Rohac and Juuso Puustinen. Puustinen, a sophomore, had three goals and an assist. It was the first hat trick of his career. . . . Nixon, with a goal and three helpers, enjoyed the sixth four-point game of his career, which is in its fifth season. . . . Rohac, a second-year winger from Slovakia, had his first three-assist game. . . . GM/head coach Dean Clark put the three together on Saturday night in Seattle. He took LW Alex Rodgers off that line and put him with RW Tyler Shattock in an attempt to get Shattock going. Clark felt that Shattock played better in the club’s last two games. . . . Portland (1-8-0-0) led 2-0 before the game was two minutes old but proceeded to give up four power-play goals. . . . The Blazers (4-4-1-0) are 1-1-1-0 in their U.S. Division swing that concludes Tuesday in Kennewick, Wash., against the Tri-City Americans. . . .
In Moose Jaw, G Joey Perricone stopped 25 shots as the Warriors blanked the Pats, 4-0. . . . Moose Jaw lost F Riley Holzapfel, its captain, in the first period when he was on the receiving end of a hit from Regina D Colten Teubert. Holzapfel left the game and didn’t return. . . . Teubert wasn’t penalized. . . . “I thought the hit was a late hit. The puck was nowhere near him,” Moose Jaw head coach Dave Hunchak told the Moose Jaw Times-Herald. “I’m obviously frustrated with the way the game is going in today’s WHL (and) NHL. We’re trying to eliminate things like that front the game. I’m very disappointed in how that went down.” . . . Hunchak told the newspaper that the Warriors will send video to the WHL office and ask for supplementary discipline. . . . There was the usual Moose Jaw-Regina silliness in the third period, including a Perricone spear on Regina’s Kirt Hill, who was headed for the dressing room after a scrap. . . . The Warriors (4-3-2-0) have won four in a row. . . . Regina fell to 7-4-0-0. . . . Greg Harder of the Regina Leader-Post points out that the Pats have been outscored 21-6 in third periods. . . . Regina went into the weekend with the WHL’s top-ranked power-play unit, and promptly went 1-for-17 in three games. . . .
In Prince Albert, the Rebels, who are on a five-game East Division swing, beat the Raiders, 2-1. . . . F Luke Betts broke a 1-1 tie at 2:37 of the third period.